Andre Balazs’ $400M bid for Standard High Line stalled

Hotelier Andre Balazs’ plan to acquire the Standard High Line from Dune Real Estate Partners and Greenfield Partners for $400 million has hit a hitch. After the investor group led by Balazs entered contract in February, an Asian partner in the group backed out. The buyers then lost their down payment after failing to close the deal. Balazs’ group is in the process of finding a new partner. Dune and Greenfield, which have spent $240 million on the 18-story, 338-room property at 848 Washington Street, are moving to refinance the debt. Balazs and his partners own Standard International, which operates the hotel. If the deal were to close for $400 million – or roughly $1.2 million per room — it would be one of the priciest sales ever for a hotel of that size, the Wall Street Journal reported. Greenfield and Dune wanted out because they had to return some funds to investors within a certain time frame, as previously reported.[WSJ] — Mark Maurer